Increasing Access to Higher Education for Early Education and Care Providers Who Are
English Language Learners (ELL): A Planning Meeting for Higher Education Allies
June 21, 2011
Case Study Exercise: Student and College
Part 1 - Student
Josefina Morales is a 28 year old Puerto Rican with limited English language proficiency. She has been in the United States for approximately two years and has recently completed an ESOL level 1 class at Centro Esperanza, a local community non-profit that offers Adult Education
Classes. The Career Services counselor at Centro Esperanza convinced Josefina that it would be in her best interest to pursue post secondary education and get her Early Education Child Care credentials. Josefina has been an independent child care provider for five years now continuing a small business she started in Puerto Rico.
Her counselor at Esperanza proceeded to help Josefina with an application for Williams
Community College, which offers early education courses and has several services to help support students whose native language is not English. After completing the paperwork with the counselor, a month later Josefina received a letter from Williams stating that after reviewing her application, several documents were missing and that it was unclear whether or not the high school diploma she received from Puerto Rico is the equivalent of an accredited US high school diploma. The letter also stated that it was imperative for her to submit a high school diploma or
GED equivalent translated by a certified translator and notarized for financial aid purposes.
Josefina was devastated and frustrated because she now needed to connect with Puerto Rico’s
Center for Education and Documentation to certify that her high school diploma is from an accredited high school. Moreover, she needed to obtain a certified translator, which would be costly for her as a low-income earning individual. The process could take weeks and impact her ability to obtain financial aid.
The Career Services counselor called officials in Puerto Rico and they were astonished that such a notification was sent to Josefina given that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and their entire public educational system is accredited by the US Department of Education. Josefina received her transcript grades in English which revealed that she had received A’s and B’s in her courses. After gathering all the information and submitting the necessary documents Josefina was finally admitted.
Part 2 - College
Williams Community College is a two-year public institution that offers many programs for adult learners in the fields of education, health, business and arts and sciences. In the past few years they have made some significant strides in developing programs and services to recruit and

retain adult learners whose native language is not English. A few years ago, they had developed an internal committee to review their admission recruitment policies and any existing policies or student support services designed to support English language learners. In their review they also conducted several one to one interviews of adult English language learners with the help of local community-based organizations and found the following:
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Most ELL applicants came from mixed-level classes but, specifically lower income families
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They fear speaking or asking questions in class due to their limited English proficiency
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They fear being in a classroom with traditional aged students
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They lack child care
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Classes and college itself appeared very difficult. Some had trouble understanding lectures and taking notes. Others found the reading assignments to be overwhelming.
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While some faculty took extra time to help ELL students improve their English writing, other faculty failed them or passed them without giving them any feedback on their writing.
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Programs did not offer flexible scheduling and discouraged many from participating given that most likely they would have to attend part-time
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Programs did not accept credits they had completed before enrolling.
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ESL and other developmental courses were expensive but did not earn credit.
They also found obstacles facing adult ELLs who were enrolled in their community college such as:

They attend college part-time. Because of parental responsibilities, many of them do not have the economic means for full-time education to be an option. Most times they do not even qualify for financial aid that is available to cover tuition and other expenses because they are not full-time students.
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They commute to college and work.
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Most are first-generation college students.
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They are low-income, [and] have less academic preparation than their peers.
Williams realized how these were all factors that prevented adult ELLs from enrolling in adult education even when community colleges have an open door policy. They are also reasons why these students struggle to complete and succeed in the programs they are able to enroll in. The committee also realized that although they may have made some strides, even with an open-door policy there are “race-neutral” laws and institutional structures, practices, and policies [that] may impede access. Upon hearing about the Josefina Morales case, the leadership at Williams
College decided to reconstitute the committee and charge it with devising a set of recommendations to specifically address internal communications, availability of culturally competent interventions and student support services and academic programs.

Important Note and Disclaimer:
This case study was put together from existing research on the barriers that adult learners face in pursuing higher education and from an actual case scenario. The names have been changed to protect the individuals and institutions. This case study is intended to be used for discussion and educational purposes only.